Google takes on Apple AirDrop with a major upgrade of its Files Go app

With Apple AirDrop, you can wirelessly send photos, videos, and more to a nearby iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac. This feature works reliably and allows users to share several hundred Mbs of data in few seconds. Google last year released a file management app called Files Go for Android devices. It also included AirDrop-like wireless file sharing functionality, but the data transfer speeds were not impressive when compared to AirDrop. Google is finally fixing this issue with the latest update for Files Go app.

With the new update, Files Go takes advantage of 5GHz Wi-Fi Direct capability in supported devices to support the highest transfer speeds possible. Users have seen speeds up to 490 Mbps which is four times faster than before. Files Go encrypts all your transfers for additional security. Google has also improved the time it takes to connect to the other device. Google claims that the average time it takes to connect two phones is now just five seconds.

Finally, the Nearby sharing (Offline sharing) feature is now available in its own dedicated tab called “Share.” This feature works on any Android device with Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or later.